Katine Chronicles blog + Maternal health | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/katine/katine-chronicles-blog+global-development/maternal-health
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Uganda film festival provokes maternal health debatehttps://www.theguardian.com/katine/katine-chronicles-blog/2010/may/10/maternal-health-film-festival
Katine film on childbirth shown at first Baby! International Film Festival to be held in Africa. The festival, in Kampala, focused on issues related to infant and maternal health<p>It was not your typical film festival at the National Theatre in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, and those attending were not the typical throngs who usually visit. But the issues were no less captivating, the ensuing debates no less passionate.</p><p>The <a href="http://www.babyff.com/web/">Baby! International Film Festival</a> arrived in Africa for the first time last weekend and featured films on topics such as breast-feeding, taking care of children orphaned by Aids in South Africa, fistula in rural Uganda, giving birth in a Mexican bathtub, giving birth in <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/katine/2008/sep/23/background.news">Katine</a> and the Hollywood portrayal of birth.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/katine/katine-chronicles-blog/2010/may/10/maternal-health-film-festival">Continue reading...</a>WomenHealthNewsKatineUgandaWorld newsSocietyMaternal mortalityChildbirthLife and styleMaternal healthGlobal developmentMidwiferyAfricaMon, 10 May 2010 10:59:59 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/katine/katine-chronicles-blog/2010/may/10/maternal-health-film-festivalPhotograph: GEORGES GOBET/GettyA Nigerian woman holding her baby. Photograph: Getty/Georges GobetPhotograph: GEORGES GOBET/GettyA Nigerian woman holding her baby. Photograph: Getty/Georges GobetRichard M Kavuma2010-05-10T10:59:59ZShould Uganda ban traditional birth attendants?https://www.theguardian.com/katine/katine-chronicles-blog/2010/mar/30/traditional-birth-attendants-ban
Birth attendants are often the only recourse for pregnant women in rural Uganda. Will banning them really improve maternal mortality rates?<p>When 40-year-old Salome Nakitanda left home with her husband, Christopher Lwanyaga, one Sunday in February, she had no idea that she was about to take one of the darkest journeys of her life. After all, she had done this several times before.</p><p>The couple, from Bukomero sub-county, in the Kiboga district of central Uganda, did not have the money this time round to travel to the district hospital, 54km away, to deliver Salome's 11th child. So, as is the norm in most rural communities in Uganda, the couple enlisted the help of a traditional birth attendant (TBA).</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/katine/katine-chronicles-blog/2010/mar/30/traditional-birth-attendants-ban">Continue reading...</a>HealthWomenNewsKatineUgandaWorld newsMaternal healthGlobal developmentMaternal mortalityAfricaTue, 30 Mar 2010 11:41:24 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/katine/katine-chronicles-blog/2010/mar/30/traditional-birth-attendants-banPhotograph: GuardianTraditional birth attendant Josephine Achen. Photograph: Guardian/Dan ChungPhotograph: GuardianTraditional birth attendant Josephine Achen. Photograph: Guardian/Dan ChungSteve Murigi and Liz Ford2010-03-30T11:41:24ZCould motorbikes cut deaths in childbirth in Africa?https://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/may/13/motorbike-ambulances-childbirth
In Malawi, the eRanger motorbike has transported women in labour from health centres to hospitals faster than traditional ambulances. Could these tailor-made bikes help reduce maternal mortality rates in rural communities like Katine, in north-east Uganda?<p>Last week's blog by Sarah Boseley, in which she describes <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/may/08/women-death-childbirth">watching a women die in Katine</a> after giving birth, raised many questions about healthcare in developing countries. Among them was the need for more ambulances and other forms of transport so women can get the proper healthcare they need.</p><p>A few weeks ago we were contacted by a private company, <a href="http://www.eranger.com">eRanger</a>, which manufactures motorbike ambulances, designed to cope with the toughest terrains.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/may/13/motorbike-ambulances-childbirth">Continue reading...</a>HealthKatineAid and developmentSocietyUgandaWorld newsMalawiSudanWomenChildbirthMaternal healthGlobal developmentMaternal mortalityMidwiferyAfricaWed, 13 May 2009 10:22:45 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/may/13/motorbike-ambulances-childbirthPhotograph: Public domainThe eRanger motorbike ambulance in use in Gulu, in northern Uganda. Photograph: eRangerPhotograph: Public domainThe eRanger motorbike ambulance in use in Gulu, in northern Uganda. Photograph: eRangerAnnie Kelly and Liz Ford2009-05-13T10:22:45Z'I watched a woman die'https://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/may/08/women-death-childbirth
On a recent trip to Katine, in north-east Uganda, I witnessed the death of a woman who haemorrhaged after giving birth. Reducing the death toll from childbirth in developing countries is a huge task, but something needs to be done - now<p>The other day I watched a woman die. A small crowd of nursing staff, orderlies and onlookers clustered round the bed in the treatment room where she had been taken after collapsing on the grass outside. It seemed like an intrusion to join them,but, in truth, one more made no difference. She was motionless, legs bent below her red dress and head to one side. With the horror of a westerner used to ambulance sirens, I counted the seconds ticking away while nothing was done. No drip, no oxygen mask, no injections, no resuscitation. They had seen it too often before. They knew there was nothing they could do.</p><p>It happens in Uganda all the time. The previous day there had been nothing wrong with Florence Ayupo. She was fit and healthy, cooking for her husband and four children, sweeping the yard. Then in the early hours of her last ever morning, she went into labour.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/may/08/women-death-childbirth">Continue reading...</a>HealthKatineAid and developmentSocietyUgandaWorld newsWomenMaternal mortalityChildbirthMaternal healthGlobal developmentMidwiferyAfricaFri, 08 May 2009 15:42:32 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/may/08/women-death-childbirthSarah Boseley2009-05-08T15:42:32ZIs a change of attitude needed to reduce death in childbirth?https://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/may/05/reducing-deaths-in-childbirth
A new report highlights the urgent need for governments to make long-term commitments to finance and support national health systems in developing countries to reduce the number of women dying in childbirth<p>Today, 5 May, is the International Day of the Midwife and the medical aid charity <a href="http://www.merlin.org.uk/">Merlin</a> is marking the occasion with a call on international governments to invest more in health services for women.</p><p>According to a new report published by Merlin, international governments need to invest £2.4bn in health systems to stop millions of women dying in childbirth in "fragile states" across the world.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/may/05/reducing-deaths-in-childbirth">Continue reading...</a>HealthAid and developmentNewsKatineUgandaWorld newsSocietyWomenMaternal mortalityChildbirthMaternal healthGlobal developmentMidwiferyAfricaTue, 05 May 2009 09:12:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/may/05/reducing-deaths-in-childbirthAnnie Kelly2009-05-05T09:12:44ZHow can we change 'macho' attitudes to sex?https://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/apr/23/macho-sex-hiv-aids
UN official argues that the idea that men should have multiple sexual partners and reject contraception is increasing exposure to the HIV virus for both men and women<p>Speakers at the UN's first global symposium of men and boys in Rio de Janeiro this week have argued that macho stereotypes of what it takes to be a "real" man are helping spread HIV/Aids across the world.</p><p>Newswire <a href="http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=83991">IRIN</a> is running an interview with Purmina Mane, an executive director of the <a href="http://www.unfpa.org/public/">UN Population Fund</a>, who says the idea that men should have multiple sexual partners, take risks, are resilient to disease, reject contraception and be too strong to ask for help continue to affect access to healthcare and reproductive health services and is increasing exposure to the HIV virus for both men and women.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/apr/23/macho-sex-hiv-aids">Continue reading...</a>NewsKatineHealthGovernanceAid and developmentSocietyUgandaWorld newsMozambiqueUnited NationsWomenMaternal healthGlobal developmentAfricaThu, 23 Apr 2009 08:56:41 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/apr/23/macho-sex-hiv-aidsPhotograph: AFPThe ABC safe sex message, abstain, be faithful, condom use, displayed on a car bonnet. Photograph: AFP/Fati MoalusiPhotograph: AFPThe ABC safe sex message, abstain, be faithful, condom use, displayed on a car bonnet. Photograph: AFP/Fati MoalusiAnnie Kelly2009-04-23T08:56:41ZFunding cuts threaten women's access to contraceptionhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/apr/08/aidanddevelopment-health
UN warns that global economic crisis may hit reproductive health services around the world<p>One of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that seeks to improve women's health is in danger of not being met, as the global financial crisis looks set to take its toll on development funding.</p><p>According to the <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46357">IPS news wire</a>, the UN has expressed fears that there could be a shortfall in money for reproductive health services as donors reduce funding and the costs of healthcare rise.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/apr/08/aidanddevelopment-health">Continue reading...</a>Aid and developmentKatineHealthWorld newsWomenMaternal healthGlobal developmentWed, 08 Apr 2009 09:57:34 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/apr/08/aidanddevelopment-healthLiz Ford2009-04-08T09:57:34ZDebate: improving maternal healthhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2008/mar/02/debateimprovingmaternalheal
Improving maternal health is one of the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/katine/2008/feb/29/health.projectgoals">main objectives</a> of the Katine project - and one of the eight <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/katine/2007/dec/10/internationalaidanddevelopment">Millennium Development Goals</a> is to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters. <strong>Malcolm Bruce</strong>, chair of the <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/international_development.cfm">House of Commons International Development Committee</a> (IDC), which today publishes a report on maternal health, says the government could have got its figures wrong and the situation is not improving fast enough<p> Pregnant women wait to enter the maternity ward of the Katine health centre. Photograph: Dan Chung</p><p>The United Nations tally of 536,000 mothers who died in or around childbirth in 2005 is bad enough. But evidence given to my committee suggests the figure could be as high as 872,000. With so many of the world's poorest countries registering neither births nor deaths, let alone cause of death, the statisticians are left with only uncertain evidence.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2008/mar/02/debateimprovingmaternalheal">Continue reading...</a>SocietyKatineEducationHealthChildbirthMillennium development goalsMaternal healthGlobal developmentMaternal mortalityMidwiferySun, 02 Mar 2008 00:01:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2008/mar/02/debateimprovingmaternalhealMalcolm Bruce2008-03-02T00:01:01Z